USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Littleton > History of Littleton, New Hampshire, Vol. I > Part 36
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The old corporation maintained its organization under the lead- ership of George B. Redington and Charles W. Rand, and in August, 1868, filed a bill in equity in which they asked that the sale by the trustees to Mr. Minot be set aside,2 their principal
1 The rental under the first lease was $10,000, and under the renewal, $12,500 per annum.
2 They had laid a foundation for the action in 1856 by the publication of the fol- lowing notice in the " People's Journal " of that year : -
BOSTON & MAINE RAILROAD STATION, 1898.
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reason being that the sale was made through fraud by Mr. Kendrick, one of the trustees, acting in collusion with the pur- chasers. This contention was finally sustained by the court, and all matters growing out of this proceeding were settled through the intervention of John E. Lyon, president of the Boston, Concord, and Montreal Railroad, by the payment of a considerable sum to the plaintiffs in discharge of their claim and judgment.1 Other residents of Littleton who served on the board of directors in the different corporations under which the road was operated were Charles W. Rand, Nelson Gile, Franklin J. Eastman, Cephas Brackett, and Cyrus Eastman.
TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.
Whereas the Stockholders of the White Mountain Railroad at their annual meeting holden on the first day of February, 1853, voted that the Corporation put at the dis- posal of the Directors, the bonds and six hundred shares of the preferred Stock and the earnings of the road to secure them for the liabilities they had already or might incur in raising the money to complete the road.
And whereas the undersigned while legally acting as Directors of said Corporation and relying upon said vote as their security, became liable as sureties in their indi- vidnal capacity for said Corporation by signing and endorsing notes for the same to a large amount, to wit, the sum of $135,000, to assist them in raising money to complete the road and to pay their notes at maturity, all of which notes are now due and outstanding against the undersigned.
Therefore they do hereby protest against the sale of the said White Mountain Rail- road, or any disposition of any of the rights, properties, or franchise of the said Cor- poration, and especially of the said bonds, preferred Stock, or earnings of the road, whereby their security shall be at all impaired, and they hereby give notice that they hold the said lien upon said property, and that they do not and shall not relinquish the same until they are fully indemnified and saved harmless from said liabilities.
GEO. B. REDINGTON. C. W. RAND,
1 The reported cases are White Mountains Railroad v. Eastman, 34 N. H. 125-147 ; Bay State Iron Co. v. White Mountains Railroad, 40 N. H. 57-60; Rand v. White Mountains Railroad, 40 N. H. 79-87 ; Sinclair v. Reddington, 56 N. H. 146-152; Same v. Same, 58 N. H. 364-366.
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XXII. ANTI-SLAVERY. 1840-1860.
T HE score of years beginning with 1840 opened amid the ex- citement of a spectacular presidential campaign, such as the country had not before witnessed, and closed on the eve of the most stupendous and costly war of modern times. The first event bore little or no relation to the closing scene, but each intervening year contributed its share of incidents and events which led to the final catastrophe. The great drama was enacted on a vast national stage, but each community had its part in the play and formulated and gave expression to the popular sentiment which urged politi- cians and statesmen forward in the path of destiny.
The anti-slavery movement was in its earliest infancy in 1835, and confined within a narrow circle. The American Anti-Slavery Society was formed at Philadelphia in December, 1833, and the New Hampshire branch organized in 1834. Garrison had founded the " Liberator " in 1832, and the first number of the " Herald of Freedom " was issued by Albe Cady and others at Concord in 1835. Local anti-slavery societies were organized in several of the larger towns of the State in 1835 and 1836 and one was established here early in 1837. That it was among the first in the field is shown by the fact that it was numbered 6 in the list of subordinate societies founded under the auspices of the State organization. Its full membership is not known with certainty, but among the names borne on its roll were those of Edmund Carleton, Nat Allen, Eras- tus Brown, Richard Peabody, Enoch Hazeltine, Mrs. Mary Kilburn Carleton, Mrs. Almyra Lumer Allen, and Mrs. Annie Brown. Doubtless there were a few others, but, if so, tradition has failed to transmit their names.
The institution of the society at that time was doubtless due to the zeal for the cause entertained by Mrs. Carleton. She had been a teacher in the primary department of Concord Academy and while residing there, had boarded at the same house with persons connected with the " Herald of Freedom," and shared their intense
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hatred of the institution of slavery. She married Mr. Carleton in November, 1836, and came to Littleton soon after. She was a woman of conrage and tenacity, and a tireless worker in this cause until its final triumph.
It does not appear that there were many additions to the mem- bership of the society in subsequent years. Frederick and Charles Hazeltine, Anson and Wesley Alexander. William Denison Hurl- butt and Amos Rowell are the only persons now recalled as having joined during the period extending from 1844 to 1850. But its lack in numbers was made up in activity, though its members were not united in respect to methods and in some of the minor details for prosecuting the work. Allen and Brown believed in the doctrine of non-resistance and lived up to its principles. Carleton, Peabody, and most of the others held that every available means should be used to bring about the liberation of the slaves. They were not sticklers for the established order of things either in regard to customs, laws, or constitutions. If these were wrong according to their code of ethics, they should be amended, repealed, or even destroyed, if they stood in the way of the consummation of their supreme purpose. They took an active interest in politics and eventually held the balance of power between the Whigs and the Democrats, and did not scruple to bargain with one or the other in order to secure the election of a representative of their faith to the General Conrt. They did not care about minor offices, but sometimes insisted upon having a representative on the board of selectmen in order to gratify the personal ambition of one of their number.
Meetings of the local society were held at stated intervals, at which Messrs. Carleton, Allen, and Brown were frequent speakers. At a meeting held on Washington's birthday in 1839, to which the public were invited, the Rev. W. D. Wilson delivered the principal address.1 This meeting was largely attended, and passed off with- out incident.
As early as 1839, the central organization began a systematic canvass to advance its objects and to increase its membership. Into each county of the State it sent speakers, who were always forcible and often eloquent advocates of their cause. The first meeting held in Littleton, under its auspices, was in the autumn of 1840, when John R. French 2 and Rev. John W. Lewis, a colored man and
1 This address is preserved in pamphlet form, and a copy is in the Littleton Public Library. Mr. Wilson afterwards became an Episcopalian and eminent as a writer, educator, and theologian.
2 Afterward Sergeant-at-arms of the U. S. Senate.
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a minister of the Free Baptist denomination, were advertised in the " Herald of Freedom " to address a meeting here. Mr. Lewis was ill and unable to keep his engagement and Parker Pillsbury was called to supply the vacancy. Fortunately Mr. Pillsbury has left an ac- count of this visit which he prepared for this publication.1 He writes, after stating the reason for his substitution, as follows : -
"Arriving at Littleton, we were cordially welcomed by some of the very best of the working people, among [whom], as I remember, were Mr. Enoch Hazelton, a cunning worker in wood, cabinet and other manufacturing ; Erastus Brown, a Shoe Maker, and Nat Allen, Har- ness Maker, . . . as well as Mr. Carleton, tlie lawyer of the town.2
" Our meetings in the village were well attended, and awakened interest on the slavery problem not known or felt there before. Rumors of our lectures and discussions reached away over the hills and down into the Connecticut River Valley, where, at that time, dwelt Mr. Richard Peabody and his excellent wife, daughter of Rev. Mr. Goodall, formerly a well known clergyman in that part of the country. And Mr. and Mrs. Peabody were well and widely known as of the best of the people. They were patrons of the ' Herald of Freedom,' and invited us to come and hold a meeting in their remote part of the town as soon as our work was done at the village. Which invitation we gladly accepted.
" Between the village and the Connecticut Valley, where the Peabodys lived, was a School House,3 and an afternoon meeting was appointed there which we could attend on our way, and there we first, met Mr. Peabody, he having ridden over on horse back to hear us and to escort us to his handsome home and farm. Several of the villagers had accom- panied us to the meeting, among them the always faithful Erastus Brown and Nat Allen ; but most of the audience were from the Pea- body side of the town, and had not heard nor seen us before.
" The house was filled when we entered, and we went at once to our work. Both Mr. French and myself made address of a half hour, or more, each. When we closed we invited discussion, as was our unfail- ing custom, but none seemed inclined to speak. Soon a fine appearing and pleasant-voiced man, of ripe age, rose, and addressing his ' fellow citizens,' said they perhaps would like to know the names of those who had so ably and well addressed them. This proved to be Mr. Richard Peabody himself. He had read the 'Herald of Freedom,' and was familiar with the names of both Lewis and French (the latter then
1 Mr. Pillsbury was invited to prepare the narrative of the anti-slavery movement in this town and generously communicated so much of it as came within his personal knowledge. His contributions are designated in the notes accompanying the chapter.
2 Henry A. Bellows and Calvin Ainsworth, Jr., were in active practice at that time, and Mr. Carleton was but one of three lawyers in the town.
In the Fitch district.
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scarcely one-and-twenty), though he had never seen either of them before. So, turning to French, he said, ' This, I take it, is our young brother, Jolın R. French,' and then, approaching me, said, ' And this, I presume, is our brother Lewis.' French and I saw the mistake coming so soon as Mr. Peabody began the formality of introduction, for we had no reason to suppose he had heard that Mr. Lewis had failed to appear. But, with a silent wink, we decided to let the matter stand as our friend had left it. It was snuset when we left the schoolhouse. Mr. Peabody mounted his horse and hurried us away to his home, probably two or three miles. Darkness had fully come when we arrived, and calling the boys to take our horses, we went into the house and pleasant parlor, where a bright open fire burned, and were introduced to Mrs. Peabody, again as 'Brother French and Brother Lewis.' Nothing need ever exceed the kindness and politeness of Mrs. Peabody, nor the generous, home-like hospitality of her husband and family. At the tea-table my young comrade French had pretty hard work to hold a sober face, as the ' Brother Lewis ' was so frequently and so kindly spoken every time my cup or plate needed replenishing, as the supper courses were served. But he did, and so did I, till we were nearly ready to leave the table. Then I explained, telling them of the unfortunate illness of Brother Lewis, compelling our executive commit- tee to procure a substitute, and that the choice fell on me as coming nearest to the pattern of him who had disappointed them of any they could find; but that I was no more than the Parker Pillsbury who had conducted the ' Herald' while the Editor, Mr. Rogers, had been on a tour abroad.
" The surprise of our excellent friends was indeed very great. The fact was, as we were then told, I was the first colored person probably ever seen in Littleton. No one remembered any other. And some had come a considerable distance to the school house meeting, mainly to look on a colored man. I think Mr. Peabody said he had never seen a black man. At any rate, he said, as he looked at me in the school house, he thought he did not see much color; 'for, as you sat down there in the seat with Nat Allen, I could not see but Nat was abont as black as you.' The word Negro in those days was generally pro- nounced with two gg's, so intense was the prejudice against the African complexion (Colorphobia, our Editor Rogers named it). And I think Mrs. Peabody feared I would take offence at finding myself twice intro- duced as a 'nigger,' and stared at and addressed at table and elsewhere as one ; and heard as one at the School house meeting. But she was easily relieved of any embarrassment on such account. An outspoken abolitionist in those days was almost everywhere hated by saint and sinner, as badly as the most liated Ethiopian whose flesh ever broiled under the red-hot branding-iron of the slave trader, or slave holder.
" But perhaps too much may be said on so trifling an incident. That was my first anti-slavery campaign in the ' Granite State,' and
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stranger things than this were to happen to me in the next twenty years.
" Just what resulted from this visit to Littleton I do not remember, only that we made several friends, who to the end never failed us, obtained a number of subscribers to the 'Herald of Freedom,' and a contribution in money besides."
Mr. Pillsbury continues : -
"Just one year afterward, autumn of 1841, Littleton was honored, and felt itself honored, with a visit from William Lloyd Garrison, accompanied by Editor Nathaniel Peabody Rogers. An Anti-Slavery Convention was called, which, from the acount given of it by Mr. Rogers in the 'Herald' of October 8, 1841, must have been one of deep in- terest. 'A goodly attendance of the people,' he said, 'was at the Convention. The flower and intelligence of the village were there .. . . Col. Jonathan P. Miller from Montpelier was present, Mr. Marsh from Danville, and Dr. John Dewey from Guildhall, Vt., also; and all of them took active and interesting part in the meetings. . . . Edmund Carleton was chosen President, and a brother from the other side of the Connecticut was Secretary. . . . Rev. Thomas Parnell Beach, from Campton, prayed at the opening of the Convention, not by appoint- ment of the President, but of his own accord. We hope he prayed in fact as well as form, - a thing, we fear, not often done in public.' . . . The resolutions passed were, one declaring abolitionists had abundant reason to thank God and take courage, in view of the past, and another, that slavery was not a Southern but a national institution, and one for which the North was eminently answerable ; and that here was the place, this the very people, and now the time when, among whom, and where, to agitate the Anti-Slavery question and overthrow the slave system.
" Commenting on the proceedings, Mr. Rogers added : 'Garrison let ont his giant moral strength in full swing on the resolutions. It was ex- alting and refreshing to hear him. We rejoiced that some of our Wood- stock, Vt., friends were there to hear him. . . . Two of the respectable citizens of Littleton were manly enough, and unacquainted enough with the Anti-Slavery question, to venture into the arena of discussion against Garrison. They were Maj. George Little and J. N. Bellows, Esqr., an instructor in the village. They were of course quickly discom- fited. It is no disparagement to them ; nor do we mention it in any trifling feeling. They ought to be Abolitionists, and we publicly tell them so. And if they appeared awkwardly in the hands of Garrison, it is only what the first pro-slavery talent in the country would do, were it honest enoughi and manly enough to venture the trial. The Law cham- pions and the Divinity champions would be mere fuel for the fire in the hands of the despised and abhorred Garrison.' . . . Able and interest- ing speeches were made by Brothers Beach and Ezekiel Rogers. Beach
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was calm, quiet, and argumentative, - not so animated as we expected from a captive who had so recently ' burst his cerements' and escaped his thraldom. Perhaps he remembered his clerical brethren yet in bondage, and their blind, stumbling, ditch-going followers. . . . Ezekiel Rogers was original, humorous, and forcible, as he is wont to be. He gave it to us in true cordwainer style. . . . The Rev. Mr. Worcester, Congregational minister, did not show his head at the convention. He was at home and well enough to attend, for we saw him at work in his shirtsleeves about his yard, as we passed his elegant dwelling. It would have compromised his clerical dignity to meet with Brother Garrison. . . . Garrison lectured in the evening to a full anditory, and we mistake if he did not make a deep and lasting impression.
"So much for the convention of 1841, as reported in his paper by Mr. Rogers. And this may be the time and place to say that Littleton had now begun to make itself heard and felt in the Anti-Slavery cause. Besides the names already mentioned there, Mr. Quimby had become a frequent and able writer for the ' Herald.' Then there were Frederic Hazleton and Frye W Gile, two bright, active, noble young men, - quite young, - and a Mr. Freeman Palmer, who made and presented me a whaleboned, ribbed umbrella, which I still have in use, though now almost five and forty years old: and, with its new cover, good for as many more. At the same time, the generous and ever-faithful Allen fitted my little white Tunbridge with a nice, new harness, which out- lasted her by many years. And Frederic Hazleton, not to be outdone, made and sent us down all the way to Concord, at his own expense, a handsome set of chairs. of which our little rented cottage at that time, I fear, was very much in need.
" But I will hasten to another incident of high importance in that same autumn, 1841. Mr. Edmund Carleton, one of the village lawyers, was also a member of the Congregational Church. And so great was the Anti-Slavery feeling awakened among the people of the place, that he believed the time had fully come for the church and minister to begin to bear public and vital testimony against the great national as well as personal sin and crime of chattel slavery."
The leaders of the crusade against slavery had from the first endeavored to enlist the ministers of the several religious bodies in their cause, but with indifferent success. The churches were inclined to conservatism in dealing with the question of slavery. The Congregationalists, with rare exceptions, followed the lines laid down by the New Hampshire General Association at Frances- town in August, 1841. This meeting adopted an address " To the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, and to Christians generally in the Southern Section of this Country." This document is couched in terms of Christian fel- lowship that, at this distance, seem calculated to ensure far differ-
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ent treatment than that which it received at the hands of the Abolitionists, who denounced it in severe terms in their journals and from the platform. The document sets forth in general terms the sinfulness of slavery ; admits the joint responsibility of New England, England, and the South for the establishment of the institution, and bringing upon that section " this great curse ;" and pleads that duty and interest unite to urge upon them the emancipation of their slaves, as such action would " promote their temporal weal and religious prosperity."
This brief paraphrase of the contents of the message of the New Hampshire Congregational clergymen to their brethren in the South, is sufficient to indicate its character. To us it seems that they uttered words of soberness and truth, calculated to preserve religious unity in their denomination. Such in fact was the result of their work at the time. The ultra-Abolitionists, however, were not satisfied with this position and a few within the church endeavored to force the issue of non-fellowship with slave-holders, and were successful in some instances.
The Congregational was the organized religious body in Little- ton, and of its membership Edmund Carleton and wife were the only persons who were connected with the Anti-Slavery Society. In 1841 they united in requesting a meeting of the church to be held on Wednesday, October 13, to determine what action the church would take on the subject of slavery. The church at that time had a membership of about one hundred. So far as the affirmative side of its proposed action is concerned, the proceedings of this meeting have been preserved in detail, in communications to the " Herald of Freedom " and the " Congregational Journal " by Mr. Carleton, and the position of the majority has been stated by Rev. Leonard Worcester, then a resident of Littleton, the father of two pastors of the Congregational church in this town, who wrote over the pen-name of " Cephas," and by John Farr, who was the leader of the conservative element in the church. Their letters antedate the events narrated by Mr. Carleton by nearly two years, yet furnish a complete statement of the position held by a large majority of the church membership in this town, in regard to the dominant question of the time. Mr. Carleton's account of the meeting he was instrumental in calling follows : -
" On the day appointed the church assembled to the number of about twelve or fourteen members, six of whom, including the pastor, were males. After the opening of the meeting with prayer, I introduced the following resolutions :
" Resolved, That slavery is contrary to the natural and inalienable
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rights of man, contrary to the spirit and precepts of the gospel, essen- tially destructive of all social order and domestic ties, ruinous to moral virtue, debasing and brutal in its tendency, and thus in its nature pre- eminently sinful in the sight of God.
" Resolved, That it is the duty of professed Christians and of reli- gious bodies to separate themselves from all wickedness, and by precept, example. influence, and worldly substance, to do all they can to purify the church and the world from sin.
" Resolved, That in view of the foregoing resolution it becomes the duty of this church to withhold Christian fellowship from slaveholders, and from churches and religious bodies which continue to fellowship slaveholders.
" Resolved, That while the members of this church earnestly desire the spread of the gospel amongst the heathen in foreign lands and the aborigines of this country, we feel it equally if not more important, that our enslaved brethren in this country have the full enjoyment of the light of the gospel.
" Resolved, therefore, That we ought to exert ourselves to bring about a moral revolution that shall prepare the way for them thus to enjoy its light.
" The members present were so few in number that it was deter- mined, by general consent, to take no specific action on the resolutions, but to adjourn to another day, after first having some conversation which might elicit the grand feeling of the members present relative to the resolutions. The male members only took part in the conversa- tion. Some of the members thoughit the subject an improper one to bring before the church, tending to produce alienation of feeling ; and it was generally conceded that the same view of the subject had caused inany to stay away from the meeting.
" The principles embraced in the resolutions were in general con- curred in except the third ; although all were not ready to admit the full extent of the first, contending that a man might bear the relation of master to slaves without sinning. Slaveholding by Southern men was not thought a sufficient bar from the communion, and the opinion found support that it would not be wrong to invite a Southern slave- holding minister to officiate in the desk.
" Much congratulation was expressed that the subject had been and could be freely talked over without falling into bitter altercation ; one at least of the few present stating that through fear of bitterness even he should not have attended, had he not been persuaded to by another. After prayer the meeting adjourned to Wednesday, the 10th day of November. 1841, at which time it was hoped Mr. Worcester, tlie pastor, would be able to obtain the address of the last General Association of New Hampshire to the General Assembly of the Pres- byterian church and to Christians generally in the South, or at least by correspondence with the Rev. Mr. Barstow, of Keene, such account
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